Monday, May 29, 2017

It's Monday What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 5/29/2017

This month I have read through a lot of books, but none that I have really felt compelled to blog about. I read The Uncommoners- a Harry Potter type of story about a hidden magical world where common objects become magical ones. Think a spatula that can turn someone invisible or a suitcase that can transport a person to the other side of town. I liked it a lot, and I think my students will like it as well. I also read Unusual Chicken for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer. It was a sweet story about Sophie Brown a city girl who inherits her uncle's farm and his group of very unusual chicken. She does her best to learn about them and keep them safe. It's a cute story with a hint of a mystery. I also just finished The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli. I couldn't get into it. I tried over and over but it wasn't for me. I've never been a fan of prison settings.
I don't usually write a full blog about a book unless I REALLY love it. The three books above were good, but not my favorites.

But there was one book in my reading this week that I enjoyed very much.

The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson is incredibly intriguing. It is a page turner for sure. This is yet another book about severe OCD (it seems to be a hot topic this year), but unlike the others I've read, the OCD is a side story to a great mystery. Middle school student Matthew Corbin sits in his window every day watching his neighbors. He waits and watches and writes about their comings and goings. He's nicknamed The Goldfish Boy because people only see him from behind the glass of his window. Matthew has severe OCD that prevents him from going outside or really having any human contact for fear of spreading germs. When he's forced to interact with other people, his skin crawls until he has a chance to wash in scalding hot water. Even latex gloves and being covered from head to toe stop working for him. He can't go to school, go out to play, or even enjoy a game of pool with his father. When a neighborhood child goes missing, Matthew is the last one to see him from his post in the window. He becomes a key witness in the investigation and his weeks of watching and spying lead to some intense theories and clues.

As I was reading this story, Matthew's anxiety and fears radiated from the page. I felt his struggle as he clearly wants to interact with his family and neighbors but just can't bring himself to do it. In one part of the story, Matthew watches a young boy fall into a pond but his OCD prevents him from running outside to help. His frustration and desperation are heartbreaking as he screams from his window. The other neighbors think he's strange but don't really understand the depths of his illness. This is a great book to introduce this difficult condition.

Besides his struggles, there are actually two mysteries here- the first is the missing toddler and the second is the incident that starts his OCD. I was surprised by both revelations! I think upper elementary students will enjoy this story as much as I did.